Whoa! I just had to mention something interesting that happened to me today. I slept late this morning after working most of the night and early hours on an art project that had a deadline at 7.00 A.M. I got out of bed around 2.00 P.M. and turned my computer on to check my e-mails etc. About ten minutes into doing this I heard one of my cats " Boy " making weird growling noises in the hallway to my studio. I turned around to see what all the commotion was about and there in Boy's mouth was a two and a half foot Black Racer snake. Anyone who owns cats knows that trying to pry the animal away from it's prey is virtually impossible without getting clawed and bitten to death. I was in a quandary...how the hell do I get this snake out of the cat's mouth and how do I get it out of the house without hurting it before it slips behind something that makes it impossible to catch. The first part of the operation was a necessity; shut all the three doors in the hallway that lead to other rooms, place cushions on the floor to block off the small spaces under those doors. The cushions wouldn't prevent the snake from accessing the rooms beyond, but they would act as a partial barrier and slow it's progress down buying me some extra minutes. The last thing I wanted was for the snake to get away and slither into my studio which has a lot of shit to maneuver around or worse still my step son's bedroom which is like the pit of hell when it comes to shit everywhere. If the snake got into any of those rooms I would be fucked. It would be a monumental operation to find a snake in there.
When I came back with the cushions from the living room couch I found to my horror the snake had gone. Well at least that took care of the problem of seperating cat and snake. I figured the snake had bitten him and had wriggled into the place my cat was now intently staring at... the hall closet. Well at least the snake chose somewhere that had less junk to move. Living in Florida the past few years has taught us to put all our personal belongings in boxes just in case we have to leave the house with them in a hurry because of severe hurricanes. Most of the closets and cupboards in our house are stocked tight with heavy boxes full of personal stuff we either want to take with us in an emergency or leave in a relatively safe place to wait out the storm. The hall cupboard was no exception. I took on the task of removing all the heavy boxes and put them in the guest bathroom and locked Boy in there too so I could attempt this procedure with as little problem as possible. The snake was a tricky bastard. It snuck under the last box in the closet and when I removed that it made a dash towards my studio door. The cushions gave me something to trap him underneath and carefully I edged the cushion and the snake towards a cardboard box I had prepared earlier. It was time consuming and very nerve wracking, but I finally got it in the box and released it outside unharmed. I've heard that these species of non venomous snakes are one of the the fastest in the world and I can testify to the reptile's speed. They are also known for putting up vigorous fights, biting hard and often once cornered, so I guess I was very lucky not to have gotten bitten by it. I hope Boy or Mini, my other cat didn't get bitten during this encounter.
When I came back with the cushions from the living room couch I found to my horror the snake had gone. Well at least that took care of the problem of seperating cat and snake. I figured the snake had bitten him and had wriggled into the place my cat was now intently staring at... the hall closet. Well at least the snake chose somewhere that had less junk to move. Living in Florida the past few years has taught us to put all our personal belongings in boxes just in case we have to leave the house with them in a hurry because of severe hurricanes. Most of the closets and cupboards in our house are stocked tight with heavy boxes full of personal stuff we either want to take with us in an emergency or leave in a relatively safe place to wait out the storm. The hall cupboard was no exception. I took on the task of removing all the heavy boxes and put them in the guest bathroom and locked Boy in there too so I could attempt this procedure with as little problem as possible. The snake was a tricky bastard. It snuck under the last box in the closet and when I removed that it made a dash towards my studio door. The cushions gave me something to trap him underneath and carefully I edged the cushion and the snake towards a cardboard box I had prepared earlier. It was time consuming and very nerve wracking, but I finally got it in the box and released it outside unharmed. I've heard that these species of non venomous snakes are one of the the fastest in the world and I can testify to the reptile's speed. They are also known for putting up vigorous fights, biting hard and often once cornered, so I guess I was very lucky not to have gotten bitten by it. I hope Boy or Mini, my other cat didn't get bitten during this encounter.
Forget about the snake handlers way of grabbing them by the back of the head, these things are way too agile to do that, If anyone else has this problem happen to them I suggest the plan of attack I used here. At the end of it all I was pretty proud of my achievement, but I don't think I would want to take on anything more dangerous than that. I think I'll leave the giant snake slaying to Conan the Barbarian and anyone who wants to go hunting for for Blood Orchids.
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